Budget Session Begins : Key points from President’s address

2019 is an important milestone. India celebrates the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation.

13th April this year marks 100 years of the tragic massacre at Jallianwala Bagh. Tribute to the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for a bright future for us.

Nation celebrates 70th anniversary of the Constitution Day this year.

550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Devji this year. He taught us to lead our lives with the spirit of service and goodwill.

Nation is following the dreams of Gandhiji to build an inclusive society based on ethics and principles.

Nation is moving ahead guided by the ideals of social and economic justice as enshrined in the Constitution by Baba Saheb Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar.

After the elections, Government assumed charge and vowed to build a new India. A New India with no place for imperfect, corrupt and inertia ridden systems.

Ideals of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya’s Antyodaya have been the touchstone of Government’s work

HEALTH AND SANITATION

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

Under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, more than 9 crore toilets have been constructed. Coverage of rural sanitation that was less than 40 percent in 2014, has increased to 98 percent.

According

to an assessment, because of the toilets built, numerous poor persons

have been spared of various kind of diseases and more than 3 lakh lives have been saved.

UjjwalaYojana

Many

of mothers, sisters and daughters used to suffer from various illnesses

because of smoke filled kitchens, which also affected health of the

entire family; and much of their effort and time were spent in

collecting firewood. Government has provided more than 6 crore cooking gas connections to such sisters and daughters under the UjjwalaYojana.

Pradhan Mantri Jan AarogyaAbhiyan

Under the world’s biggest health care scheme, ‘Pradhan Mantri Jan AarogyaAbhiyan’, 50 crore poor are eligible for availing treatment up to Rs 5 lakh per year per family in case of a serious illness. In a short period of four months, more than 10 lakh poor have already availed free treatment from hospitals under this scheme.

BimaYojana

For

a premium of just one rupee a month under ‘Pradhan Mantri Suraksha

BimaYojana’ and 90 paise a day under ‘Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima

Yojana’, as many as 21 crore poor brothers and sisters have been

provided with insurance coverage

National Nutrition Mission

Government has launched the National Nutrition Mission for persons suffering from malnutrition and to eliminate the factors responsible for malnutrition.

Mission Indradhanush

‘Mission Indradhanush’ has been launched by the Government to provide immunization facilities to children and pregnant women living in remote and tribal areas. As a result, the country has moved rapidly towards the target of “Universal Immunization”.

New AIIMS

From

Madurai in Tamil Nadu to Pulwama in Jammu-Kashmir; and from Rajkot in

Gujarat to Kamrup in Assam, new ‘AIIMS’ are being established.

Yoga

Government is setting up New Ayurveda Science Institutes and encouraging yoga for physical and mental wellbeing.

HOUSING

Rural housing

In the last four-and-a-half years, 1 crore and 30 lakh homes

have been constructed under the rural housing schemes of the

Government, whereas in the five years preceding 2014, only 25 lakh

houses had been constructed..

RERA

By

enacting RERA law, Government has ensured that construction of houses

is completed and they are handed over to the buyers as scheduled so that

the hard earned money of buyers does not get stuck. After enactment of

this law, about 35 thousand ‘Real Estate Projects’ have been registered

where lakhs of houses are being constructed and handed over to families.

Pradhan Mantri AwasYojana

Under ‘Pradhan Mantri AwasYojana’, the Government is also giving interest subsidy of 6 and a half per cent to the persons belonging to low income group.

Pradhan Mantri Saubhagya Yojana

Today every village has been electrified. Under ‘Pradhan Mantri Saubhagya Yojana’, 2 crore and 47 lakh homes have been provided electricity connection.

DISABLITY FRIENDLY INITIATIVES

Ministry

of Social Justice and Empowerment established by Atalji had started the

tradition of organizing camps to assist the Divyangjans.

In

the past four-and-a-half years, Government has been organising 140

camps on an average every month where Divyangjans are receiving

assistive equipments. During this period, assistive equipments worth Rs 700 crore have been distributed to about 12 lakh Divyangjans in a fully transparent manner.

Government under the ‘Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan’ has made about 1,000 Government buildings and more than 650 railway stations fully accessible to Divyangjans.

Government started working on a uniform sign language for Divyangjan applicable throughout the country.

Through the enactment of ‘The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016’, Government has provided them with equal opportunity in education, social security and employment.

RESERVATION TO THE POOR

A historic decision has been taken in the last Winter Session of Parliament to pass the 103rd Amendment to the Constitution to extend the benefit of reservation to the poor belonging to the general category.

FOR THE ASPIRATIONS AND DREAMS OF YOUNG INDIANS OF 21ST CENTURY

Kaushal Vikas Abhiyan

Keeping in mind the desire of the youth to be self-reliant, the Kaushal Vikas Abhiyan was launched. Under this Abhiyan, in the last four years, on an average one crore youth have been trained every year in different skills.

Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana

Under the ‘Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana’, which facilitates credit for professional and business requirements, loans worth more thanRs. 7 lakh crore have been disbursed to the youth without any guarantee. More than 15 crore people have benefitted and over 4 crore 26 lakh first time borrowers have started their business under this scheme.

Start Up India

Under

‘Start Up India’ and ‘Stand Up India’, Government has provided

financial assistance to make the youth self-reliant. As a result, in the

world of start ups, India now figures as a frontline country.

Pradhan Mantri Rojgar ProtsahanYojana

The

Government has linked creation of jobs with tax incentives under

‘Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana’. Under this scheme, when a

young person gets a new job, the EPS and EPF contribution of 12

per cent payable by the employer is being paid by the Government for the

first three years. More than 1 crore youth have already benefitted from

this scheme.

New Institutions

7 IITs, 7 IIMs, 14 IIITs, 1 NIT and 4 NIDs are

being established. It has been decided to enhance the amount of

scholarship and fellowship by more than 25 percent to encourage research

activities in the country.

Opening

up of 103 Kendriya Vidyalayas and setting up of , Eklavya Model

AwasiyaVidyalayas in all talukas having a majority tribal population and

62 new Navodaya Vidyalayas.

The Government is setting up more than 5,000 ‘Atal Tinkering Labs’ for taking ideas to innovation.

Khelo India

Government

is making efforts to identify talented sportspersons from different

corners of this country under the youth centric ‘Khelo India’ programme.

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Under the ‘Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana’, the maximum benefit has been availed by women. Out of the 15 crore Mudra loans provided so far throughout the country, 73 percent have been disbursed to women entrepreneurs.

Under the ‘Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana’, about 6 crore women have become members of Self Help Groups.

Government has provided loans worth more than Rs 75 thousand crore to

such Self Help Groups. This amount is two and a half times more than the

loans given in the four years preceding 2014.

It

has been made mandatory for the major Government companies to purchase

at least 3 percent of their material from the enterprises owned by women

entrepreneurs.

Women officers

recruited under the Short Service Commission in the armed forces to be

considered for permanent commission through a transparent selection

process just like their male counterparts.

Enhanced maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks.

FARMER WELFARE

Government is striving day and night to attain the goal of doubling farmers income.

better facilities and assistance to farmers for the agriculture

activities from purchase of equipment and seed to transportation of

produce and its sale.

Providing the farmers with fair price for their crops, access to new markets and helping them with additional sources of income.

Government has taken the historic decision of fixing the Minimum Support Price – MSP of 22 crops at one and a half times higher than the production cost of the crop.

The number of Krishi Vigyan Kendras is being increased across the country to assist the farmers with scientific methods of farming.

More than 17 crore Soil Health Cards have been distributed to inform the farmers about the health of the soil.

100 percent Neem coating of urea has been done to facilitate its availability and to prevent its misuse.

Government is completing 99 incomplete old irrigation projects

so that farmers do not face any hurdle in irrigation. 71 of these

projects will be completed by the next few months. Micro-irrigation is

also being promoted by the Government to ensure full utilization of

every drop of water.

Crop insurance is being provided to farmers at low premium under the ‘Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana’ to safeguard them from potential crisis due to crop damage.

A campaign has been launched to link online, more than 1,500 Agricultural Mandis

to facilitate market access to farmers. Cold storage capacities are

being increased at a fast pace to minimise crop damage from the field to

the market and to ensure proper storage.

The ‘Waste to Wealth’ campaign is being implemented to ensure that farmers generate additional income out of the crop residue from their field.

Under the Blue Revolution scheme, Government is providing training to fishermen in deep sea fishing and financial assistance for buying modern fishing trawlers.

NAMAMI GANGE

Under the ‘Namami Gange Mission’, projects worth

Rs 25,500 crore have been approved so far.

Government

is engaged with the task of cleaning up of the river Ganga by diverting

dozens of major drains, stopping flow of industrial effluents and by

setting up several Sewage Treatment Plants in the cities.

DIGITAL INDIA

In 2014, only 59 village panchayats in the country had digital connectivity. Today, 1 lakh 16 thousand village panchayats are connected with optical fibre and about 40 thousand village panchayats have been provided with wi-fi hotspots.

In

2014 there were only 84 thousand Common Service Centres. Today, their

number has increased to more than 3 lakhs. Of these, 2 lakh and 12

thousand centres have been set up in village panchayats.

COOPERATIVE FEDERALISM

Government

has worked continuously to strengthen the spirit of Cooperative

Federalism enshrined in the Constitution. In line with this objective,

Government took the decision to provide the States with 10 percent

additional share in taxes as per the recommendations of the Finance

Commission.

FINANCIAL INCLUSION

34 crore bank accounts

have been opened in the country because of ‘Jan Dhan Yojana’ and almost

every family is now connected to the banking system.According to an

international agency, of all the bank accounts opened in the world from

2014 to 2017, 55 percent were opened in India alone. Today, Rs 88

thousand crore deposited in Jan Dhan accounts is a testimony to the

changing saving habits. It is only because of the Jan Dhan scheme that

wages from MGNREGA, benefits from different insurance schemes,

scholarships, pensions and most other Government benefits are being

credited directly into the bank accounts of the poor through DBT.

ACTION AGAINST CORRUPTION AND BLACK MONEY

Approved constitution of a Special Investigation Team- SIT on black money.

New

agreements were signed with several countries known as tax havens, and

several others were signed with many other countries to rectify

deficiencies in existing agreements.

New laws were enacted for sectors thriving on black money, and those were brought under the ambit of taxation.

Government also provided an opportunity to voluntarily disclose unaccounted income and wealth.

Demonetisation was a defining moment in the Government’s war on corruption and black money.

welfare of the people, Government has demonstrated country’s commitment

towards the ideals of sacrifice and service.

PRAKASH PARV OF GURU GOVIND SINGH JI

In our tradition, the Saints and Gurus occupy the highest position.

This month, to commemorate the Prakash Parv of Guru Govind Singh ji, the Government has released a special coin.

INDIA AT GLOBAL PLATFORM:

It is a measure of Government’s diplomatic success that today India’s voice is heard with respect at international fora. Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas organized recently in Varanasi has reinforced this fact. At the initiative of India, 21st June was declared as International Yoga Day by the United Nations and is now being celebrated with great enthusiasm across the world. During the last four years, more than 2 Lakh 26 thousand Indians stranded abroad have been rescued and brought back to the country. The United Nations Award for India’s efforts in the field of environment conservation has made every Indian proud. It is a matter of pride for all of us that India is providing leadership to the global solar revolution and last year the first summit of the International Solar Alliance was successfully organized in Delhi. In 2022, India will host the G-20 Summit. Hosting the summit in the year marking the 75th anniversary celebration of our independence will further enhance India’s global influence.

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